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OU football: Could OU use both Blake Bell and Trevor Knight?

Having seen the change of pace Knight provided in relief duty on Saturday at Notre Dame, might coaches call Bell to the sideline on occasion this season and crank their offense up to the speed of Knight?

NORMAN — Realizing his team had an issue with red-zone and third-down offense, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and his staff devised a special set of plays to take advantage of their backup quarterback's unique skill set two years ago.

The result was incredible efficiency in short-yardage situations and important game experience for Blake Bell, who now displays calm and poise as the Sooners' starting quarterback.

When Bell was cramping up in the third quarter of Saturday's win at Notre Dame, speedy redshirt freshman Trevor Knight entered the game and immediately provided a spark, picking up 30 yards on an option keeper.

Having seen the change of pace Knight provided in relief duty, might coaches call Bell to the sideline on occasion this season and crank their offense up to the speed of Knight?

“Yeah, it's not a bad idea if you think about it,” Stoops said during his Monday news conference. “Blake gets a few series off and is not cramping maybe early in the third quarter.”

The Sooners (4-0 overall, 1-0 Big 12) host TCU at 6 p.m. Saturday in a game many expected Knight would start earlier this season.

Knight bested Bell in their preseason quarterback competition after wowing coaches with his impressive athleticism and playmaking ability. Knight showed flashes of that potential as the starter in Oklahoma's first two games, but struggled to consistently pass well enough to run the full Sooner offense.

Bell started the Sooners' 51-20 win over Tulsa two weeks ago and set a school record for passing yards in a first career start, then played well again in the Notre Dame victory, allowing the junior to take firm hold of the job.

A few days before naming Knight the starter, Stoops repeated a quote from comedy classic “Dumb and Dumber” when asked if he would consider playing two quarterbacks.

“Never say never and there's always a chance,” Stoops said. “Even what's his name in Dumb and Dumber, he had a chance. It was one in a million, but he did have a chance.”

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Jason Kersey became The Oklahoman's OU football beat writer in May 2012 after a year covering high school sports and OSU recruiting. Before joining the newspaper in November 2006 as a part-time results clerk, he covered high school football for...